Ex-pat Geordie Johnson has to watch his mouth

AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson admits he has to watch his mouth when he returns from his US home to his native Gateshead, near Newcastle, in the north-east of England.

He fears that if he accidentally uses any American phrases his fellow Geordies will jump down his throat for having ideas above his station.

Johnson is gearing up for the launch of his six-week radio show Rockers And Rollers, the title taken from his recent book. The Radio 2 series begins on Thursday at 2200BST.

The singer has more reasons than ever to go back to Gateshead. He tells the Sunday Sun: “I’ve got a grandson, little Edwin. He’s two and a bit, so I’ve just got to get back to see him as much as I can.

“The trouble is, with living in America, I’ll go back to Newcastle, go to a garage and I’ll ask for gas.

“Oh my God, the hell I’ve got: ‘Oh, you’ve changed, son!’ I’ve got to be real careful not to call a car bonnet a hood, or a boot a trunk. I walk on eggshells.”

Johnson recently told how AC/DC would only go to work on a new record if the entire band were in full fitness, and later explained how he’s spent 30 years being burned on stage by the cannon fired when the band play For Those About to Rock We Salute You.

He’s known for loving cars as much as he loves his job, and says: “My memory is terrible, but cars always help me remember things.

“If someone asked, ‘What’s the name of the girl you went out with when you were 19?’ you couldn’t remember. But you’d remember having a Mini Cooper.

“Cars started to get cool and groovy when rock’n’roll started. When Ike Turner brought out Rocket 88 it was about his car, the thing he loved. The thing you wanted when you were a young man was a car – because it was freedom.”

-Classic Rock Magazine

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